NKC STS-117 Text

The crew of space shuttle mission STS-117 has completed its mission! The commander of the mission was Rick Sturckow. Lee Archambault was the pilot. The mission specialists were Jim Reilly, Steven Swanson, Patrick Forrester and John "Danny" Olivas. They were joined by Clay Anderson, who took over as the Expedition 15 flight engineer on the International Space Station. He replaced Sunita Williams, who had been on the station since Dec. 9, 2006.

The crew of STS-117 designed a mission patch. The mission patch shows important parts of the mission. The International Space Station is shown flying above the Earth. The part of the station that was added by the STS-117 crew is shown in gold. The names of the crew are found above and below the orbiting station. The two gold astronaut office symbols coming from the '117' at the bottom of the patch stand for the hard work needed to finish the station.

The crew had a lot to do to get ready for their flight. Many of the astronauts were lowered into the waters of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, near NASA Johnson Space Center. Underwater cameras sent views of the crew to television monitors above the water.

Astronaut Clay Anderson trained at Johnson Space Center, as well. Anderson joined Expedition 15 as flight engineer after launching to the station on STS-117.

Commander Rick Sturckow trained in the space shuttle crew compartment trainer at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He practiced for the tasks he would be doing as the commander on the STS-117 shuttle mission.

Astronaut Steven Swanson used a joystick in the virtual reality lab at Johnson Space Center. He practiced in the lab for his mission.

STS-117 pilot Lee Archambault checked out the cockpit of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, the vehicle for his mission.

Astronaut Patrick Forrester put on a training version of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit space suit and was lowered into the waters of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, also known as the NBL, near NASA Johnson Space Center. The NBL helped him practice for the spacewalks he would do while in orbit.

All of this training helped the STS-117 shuttle crew complete its mission.